Saturday, June 5, 2010

On the 200th post I thought I would do something special. Tell you all about Bridgette's new likes and dislikes or ... something. It would probably have been fun.

Instead I was telling you about being doused in vomit. Well, I guess that's fun in its own way. It's a specific kind of fun for which your sense of humor must be keenly honed.

Actually, I think life is sometimes about missing those important planned marks then making up for them later.

Example 1 --

After a whole bloomin' lot of negative pregnancy tests, I finally gave up trying to create the perfect moment to announce to Jeff that we were having a baby. As it ended up, I was forced by my surgeon to take a pregnancy test to clear me for a knee operation shortly after I started grad school. Around 6 a.m. as I was getting ready for a long day of classes, I hobbled out on crutches to view that little plus sign turning darker and darker in the dim morning light. I woke Jeff up with a cute, "You're kidding me."

I can't say that I made up for that one. The news was out and not perfectly. But! We had a cute kid, so that's got to count for something right?

Example 2 --

Bridgette's 18 month celebration turned into one of the worst visits to the hospital we've ever had (except for the fact that if we hadn't gone she would have died). But you know, I think it helps us celebrate all the other days a lot more, mile-marker or not.

Example 3 --

The 200th post.

Ha! You know I'll make up for that one. By the way, the photo at the top is from the petting zoo. We visited with Kids on the Move on Tuesday. I'll post the rest of the photos someday, but now I have more important stuff to report.

Sickness update:

We were pretty sure Bridgette was doing better today until her poop starting coming a lot more often, a lot more watery, a lot more smelly. In the past, this has been a precursor to no poop and total bowel shutdown, including distention, the need to irrigate, and vomiting.

I have noticed tummy distention (actually, I noticed it yesterday morning before she even had a fever -- I thought it was weird, but now I know), and she still isn't eating anything. She sips at Pedialyte occasionally, and today we had one surprisingly wet diaper followed by a lot of poopy-wet diapers which is not the same thing nor desirable. She hasn't eaten in two days, and she's not getting formula right now either since her digestive ability is down.

We have started her on Zithromax. If it's not needed to kill the possible ear infection or the possible UTI, we hope it will at least put the kibosh on potential bacterial overgrowth we think is ocurring as a side-effect of the virus. We're also keeping her on her regular morning and evening dosages of Flagyl.

All in all, I think we're handling her illness better though. I mean, not only do we know who to contact and how to treat her faster, but I don't think we're as emotionally hashed this round. Not that we don't worry because we do. We always, always do. But we're better about keeping a bit of routine for ourselves and taking turns getting out of the house while the other stays home with babs.

4 comments:

I hope the antibiotic does its job and soon Bri will be back to her smiling, happy self. I am so sorry that all of you are having to go through this again, but I suppose this is Bridgette's reaction to illnesses and as such we will all have to learn to accept it as her normal. Still, it is so sad. I am glad that you and Jeff are handling this with greater calm than other times. You have been there many times before and seem to have learned a lot in the process. I am glad that Bridgette has you.